San Jose State football: Grading the Week

The Spartans, it can officially be written, stated and shouted, are in free fall.

Far worse than losing four in a row in the heat of conference play is losing one in a row — any time and anywhere, but especially at home — to Hawaii.

The same Hawaii team that was playing on the Mainland for the second game in a row after getting smacked around at Colorado State last week.

The same Hawaii team that hadn’t won a road game in three years.

The same Hawaii team that had three FBS wins in the past 2+ seasons.

It’s not often that I’m shocked by a final score. But I was shocked when I saw Hawaii 13, San Jose State 0.

It’s surely SJSU’s worst lost since the one-point defeat to UC Davis in 2010, but the program was in a different place back then. It had already hit rock bottom and was just beginning the process of rebuilding — David Fales was a year-and-a-half away from setting foot on campus.

These Spartans were playing for a bowl berth until Saturday’s loss eliminated them from the postseason.

Add the way the game unfolded, with the repeated misfires in scoring range and the gigantic 0 on the scoreboard, and this is worse, in many respects, than the Davis defeat.

The Spartans are the first team since at least 1996 to get shut out of a game in which it did not attempt a punt. (Durkin has a complete recounting of the implosion here.)

Anyone who did not have doubts about the Ron Caragher regime prior to Saturday probably is rethinking that position.

The Hotline isn’t about calling for anyone’s job whether it’s the head coach, coordinators or assistants, although AD Gene Bleymaier will obviously be evaluating everyone’s job performance after what has transpired these past two weeks.

Instead, my goal is always to apply context and reasoned criticism/praise, and attempt to elevate the public discourse.

So let’s dispense with details of the loss — more here from Durkin, if you have the stomach — and address three larger issues:

1. Caragher’s cushion.

I can’t help but think back to the wasted opportunity that was last season. Caragher stepped into a nice situation with an elite quarterback and a veteran offense line — and he could not get the Spartans into the postseason because of mismanagement on the defensive side (naming Kenwick Thompson the DC and switching to the 3-4).

Had the Spartans gone bowling last year, there would be much more tolerance … or much less frustration over … going belly-up this year.

The pressure on Caragher this week wouldn’t be as great because it would have started from at a lower level. But the swing-and-miss with Fales last year reduced his cushion, and now the wheels are off — all the momentum gained from the MacIntyre era and the jump into the Mountain West is gone.

2. The red zone.

Let’s be clear: Joe Gray has made plenty of mistakes during his seven starts, and he certainly screwed up Saturday. Rookie quarterbacks tend to force things, and that likelihood often increases as they get closer to the end zone. (When the field shrinks, you need more patience.)

But the Spartans’ problems in the red zone predate Joe Gray’s emergence as the starter … and Blake Jurich’s emergence as the start … and they date back to the beginning of the Caragher/Jimmie Dougherty era.

The Spartans were No. 86 national in red zone efficiency last year with Fales and a veteran line. It should come as little surprise, then, that with a rookie quarterback and young line, they’re No. 120.

Caragher and Dougherty simply haven’t been able to figure out a plan to score consistently inside the 20 (and just outside the 20, for that matter).

In this regard, they have company in the neighborhood: Stanford is No. 122 in red zone offense.

3. The finish.

The next two weeks will be immensely telling, not only for the fans but for Bleymaier. How will the players react to meaningless games? Will they continue to play hard for the coaches? Are they upbeat about the program’s future?

It sure has seemed like something is not quite right with the Spartans over and above the issues with execution. Is there a disconnect between the Caragher staff and MacIntyre’s recruits? Is there a leadership void? Do the players fully believe in what Caragher and his staff are selling?

I don’t know the answers. But the next two weeks should provide them.

Next up: at Utah State (Friday)

The matchup: Just what the Spartans need after the Hawaii meltdown: A road game on short rest against a team that has carved them up year after year.

Yes, it might do the Spartans some good to get away — the vibes at Seventh and Alma are anything but positive.

And yes, the Aggies are playing with a fourth-string quarterback: Chuckie Keaton went down early in the season … then backup Darell Garretson broke his wrist in mid-October … then another injury hit …

The current starter is a freshman named Kent Myers; he is even less experienced than Gray.

*** The Aggies have been winning with their running game. They aren’t one-dimensional, but they’re close. SJSU’s defense has a good chance to achieve containment if it plays the way it did early in the season.

Then again, if the Spartans play the way they did against Colorado State and Fresno State, it could be a long evening.

*** This much is certain: It’s a daunting challenge for SJSU.

The Spartans are getting worse; the Aggies are getting better.

The Spartans have lost four in a row; the Aggies have won four in a row, including a three-TD victory at Hawaii earlier this month.

*** The Spartans are an 11.5 point underdog.

Either they play with immense pride and it’s close … close enough for anything to happen in the final minutes … or they fold early and it’s a blowout. Nothing in between.